Surgical-needle holder



No. 508,939 Patented NOV. 21,1 893.

jnven'ior:

23/,OLMMH' v To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN L. HANCHETT, or SIOUX CITY, IOWA.

SURGICAL-NEEDLE- HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 508,939, dated November 21, 1893.

I Application filed August 11, 1892- Serial No. 442,798- (No model.) I

Be it known that I, J OHN L. HANOHETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sioux City, Woodbury county, State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Needle-Holder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention comprises an improvement in a needle holding device used in sewing, &c., in surgery; and its objects are to provide a needle holder most simple and durable in construction and effective in operation.

The invention consists, therefore, in the novelty of construction and arrangement of the parts as will be hereinafter more fully pointed out and claimed:

The instrument may be fully described by reference to accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 shows the instrument open with the lever swung round to the right ready to receive a needle. The instrumentconsists of the handle a from which extends the shank b terminating in the lip d turned up from the distal end of the shank. The lever c is affixed to the shank by the rivet or screw .g at a proper point as i as shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 shows a side view of the shank, lip, cam and lever, showing the lip grooved at m on the inner face at the base; and the cam grooved counter to the groove in the lip, at n. The needle is partially engrossed in the grooves when held in the jaws. The groove in the cam narrows in a spiral around the cam from right to left, thus adapting itself to difierent sized needles; also acting as a wedge on the needle.

In both Figs. 1 and 2 at j a hole is shown, drilled through the shank. When in the process of sewing the needle hasbeen pushed through the tissues as far as the length a of the needle will permit, the holder is relaxed from the needle and the pointof the needle is transfixed in the hole j, by bringing the cam to bear upon it as it sticks up through the hole; when the needle may be drawn out of the parts.

In' using the instrument the handle is' grasped with the right hand, the thumb is placed on the button, and the lever swung aroundto the right to open for the needle. With the left hand the needle is placed in between the lip and cam with the point to the left.- Then the lever is brought to the left until the cam is firmly against the needle. Friction will hold the-lever in place when pressure is on the needle.

The harder the force used to push a needle through tissues the faster is the'needle held, 

